9/11; After the World Gave: Where $2 Billion in Kindness Ended Up

CHARITIES have put more than $1.1 billion in the hands of Sept. 11 victims, including nearly $700 million for survivors of the 3,000 people who died, a New York Times survey of the biggest charities shows.

Cash assistance to victims makes up the largest proportion of spending by the Sept. 11 charities, 29 of which responded to the survey. The six charities that have raised the most -- together they may account for 90 percent of the giving earmarked for the tragedy -- have raised more than $2 billion, and spent about two-thirds of it.

The top six Sept. 11 charities have spent more than $300 million on more traditional activities: more than $100 million in emergency disaster relief; about $43 million providing aid to nonprofit organizations and businesses affected by the disaster; and $77 million in long-term services, like counseling. They have also committed more than $112 million to scholarships.

The charities are now mapping plans to spend the $600 million still unspent money on long-term services, like mental health care and advocacy for the victims. The Red Cross, which still has $145 million in cash that it intends to send to victims, has committed more than $143 million to other services over the next few years.

Officials involved in the effort are still smarting from criticism over the pace at which aid was distributed: in June, only about half the money raised had been disbursed. Leaders of the effort point to the long-term needs created by a crisis. ''This is another misconception, that the Red Cross goes in and feeds and provides shelter and then we're out of there,'' said Darren Irby, a spokesman for the organization. ''We'll be there long after everyone leaves.''

Both the amounts raised and the speed at which they were donated put the Sept. 11 relief effort in a category unlike any previous outpouring of assistance. But the effort differed in other ways as well, especially in its emphasis on direct payments.

''There's no precedent for hundreds of thousands of dollars, much less millions, to go to individuals,'' said Marla Simpson, a section chief in the charities bureau of the New York attorney general. ''That's quite contrary to what's happened in the past, and what the tradition of charities is, which is service.''

Survivors of uniformed rescuers, about 400 of whom were killed in the attack on the World Trade Center, have received more than $365 million from the top six charities, according to the survey. When smaller charities are considered, the average is probably over a million dollars per victim, according to the survey. That is about seven times more per victim than was given on average to the survivors of the 2,600 civilian victims, who have received about $330 million from the top six charities. Another $457 million was sent to more than 30,000 whose homes or businesses that were affected.

Ms. Simpson noted that polls indicated that two-thirds of American households made donations after the attacks. That means, she said, ''by definition, most of the people who gave that money are worse off than many of the people who got it.''

Still, charity monitors say, it is an accurate reflection of donors' intent. ''We all wanted to do something to help and giving money was the easiest thing we could do, for most of us,'' said Victoria Bjorklund, a lawyer in New York who represents the Robin Hood Relief Fund. ''None of us could know who else was giving or how much or to whom.''

Ms. Simpson agreed that the focus on first responders matched the nation's reaction to the event. ''I don't think people who gave money around the country cared whether the first responders would get vastly more'' than and others who died, she said.

Beyond direct aid, numerous charities focused on specific areas in which they could provide services. ''We saw that early on, that foundations were saying, there are hidden needs, how are we connecting with those?'' said Loren Renz, the vice president for research at the Foundation Center, which has done a study on corporate and foundation giving that is to be released today at www.fdncenter.org/research/911/.

To look at the range of charitable responses, The Times contacted the 30 top charities ranked by amount of contribution, using a list provided by the Foundation Center. Twenty-nine responded, and a chart listing their complete answers can be found at www.nytimes.com/giving. Because many could not break down their spending in detail, and could not account for transfers of money between groups involved in the relief efforts, their figures were not included in the chart shown here.